Eat Like a Rabbit

The concierge at our hotel needed to direct us to a reasonably fast dinner location. Paul said Italian pizza sounded good, and she made a reservation for us at Salute! on Madison Ave. and then directed us on the best way to get a cab to Carnegie Hall for a beautiful, but long performance of Handel's Messiah. (In case you never knew, the Hallelujah Chorus is not the end of the program, only of Part 2.)

Salute was an amazing restaurant with a bar in the front and lots of tables in the back. The monochromatic color scheme made the room very inviting, and we loved our seats looking out the window.

A kind lady met us at the door and waited patiently while I removed both coats and packaged my gloves and hat so as not to lose them. Then, she led us to a table, that I'm sorry to say was very tipped. However, we were happy to have a seat and the leaning table was never a problem.

Our waitress arrived with menus and took our order for drinks. New York water tastes very good. However, I have learned to order lemon with my water, especially when I'm dehydrated. The lemon never came.

In reading up on how to get children to eat healthy, I learned that some foods should be given more creative or less scary names. I took this step when adding spinach to my smoothies. The spinach (green tops) reminded me of eating fresh mint or even the tops of organic berries in my drink when you aren't worried about eating the leaves. The bitterness of the spinach is non-existent; so, I have no fear of suddenly realizing that the "tops" aren't tops at all. I have fought "green smoothies" for quite some time, but the fruit hides the look, which makes me more likely to drink it. Also, the additional vitamin C from orange juice increases absorption of iron, which is just as important for my body as eating the iron to begin with.

Sadly, my fetal-brain-drain kicked in and sometime last weekend I failed to put my frozen bananas back in the freezer, and they weren't very acceptable for smoothies after spending the night in the fridge. I used frozen peaches (Yes, we have a variety of fruit in our freezer. Just wait until all the applesauce and squash come into season.) as an alternative. The downside was that the color came out funky. One person at work thought my drink was pasta sauce to go with my EMT's pasta, and another person thought I was drinking salsa. Well, no matter the look, it tasted just fine.

Recipe for Berry Banana Smoothies

Serves 2

• One frozen banana
• 1/4 cup frozen raspberries
• 6 large frozen strawberries
• 1/2 cup fresh spinach
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt

I defrost my strawberries for a minute in the microwave because the banana often adds enough thickness on its own. Blend the raspberries first because they're smaller. Add the strawberries for some liquid, then spinach, banana, yogurt, and juice. Lighten up on the liquids if the smoothie is getting too thin or add an extra banana. The raspberries are the strongest flavor so those are what you need least extra of. If spinach is necessary in your diet, too, you can get away with adding more "green tops" without tasting the bitterness.

As with all smoothies, it's easy to be creative and explore. No two are alike. For my mid-morning drinks, I used just strawberries (defrost again) and peaches with the juice and spinach. I eliminated the yogurt because at work it takes me a while to sip my drink.

This cake was such a hit, people have been nagging me for the recipe. Therefore, I've skipped my desired schedule of posting and bumped this one up in the list.

My dilemma for this cake was the fact that it was for a bridal shower at which the guest of honor, the bride, is allergic to a certain aspect of dairy. The Duncan Hines Cake Mix fits into her diet. Also, there are some icings that are acceptable, but instead of taking my chances, I chose a dairy-free cake option.

Those who are familiar with us know that our wedding was built around our incredible wedding cake made by That Special Touch in Pearl, Mississippi. We actually "imported" 10 jars of Publix Creamy Natural Peanut Butter from Florida for the filling, splattered cream cheese icing around the layers, and topped it with dripping fresh raspberries. It was beautiful, photographed well, but most importantly tasted amazing. I chose to duplicate that cake in this setting eliminating the cream cheese icing, and opting for a raspberry glaze as fresh berries are out of season.

Recipe for Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Glaze

For the cake, cook according to package directions and pour batter evenly into two 8- or 9-inch cake plans for baking. Once completely cool, put one cake on the serving platter. Spread 1/4 jar of creamy peanut butter onto cake (We only use natural with nothing but peanuts and salt.) with a miniature spatula. Top with the second cake. Cover tightly with saran wrap to refrigerate. I actually made the cake a night in advance and let it warm to room temp about 1 hour before serving.

Raspberry Glaze

• 8-10 oz. frozen raspberries, pulsed slightly in food processor
• 1 Tablespoon and 1 teaspoon corn starch
• 1/3-1/2 cup brown sugar

Pour berries into small saucepan over medium heat and stir until berries defrost. Mix sugar and corn starch in the measuring cup and pour over berries. Stir fairly consistently until the glaze thickens and is clearer in color. Cool glaze and remove to glass storage if not topping cake immediately. Pour glaze over cake just before serving.

We didn't eat out in Spokane, but we did take advantage of a fabulous sweet-shop, which made the kids exceptionally happy at the end of our walking tour around town. You could call us care-free cause we were eating dessert before lunch. The ice cream shop did have an organic lunchroom attached, but I didn't pay too much attention to vegetarian items.